I hope to see you over there. It already seems to be better. I can post more music widgets and things in the blogs and it’s mine! Stop by, make comments, download things, whatever. I’m too legit to quit and I’m in charge now. Well, at least with some things.

1. Are you burdened by student loans that force you to work jobs you really do not like so that you can pay it back?

2. Are you underneath a mortgage on a home?

3. Do you pay loans are your car?

4. Are you able to get up and go anywhere you want?

5. Do you bring your work home with you? (If you enjoy your work, then that’s a different story).

6. Are you so obsessed with the latest gadgets and things?

7. Do you have a lot of credit card debt?

8. Are you happy and satisfied or at least moving towards what you perceive to get you there?

9. Would you keep working your job for free because you like it?

10. Are you doing overtime just to stay afloat and not go into the tank?

11. Do you have free time to do the things you enjoy?

12. When was the last time you got up and felt you were really making a difference?

13. Are you burdened down with fear?

14. Are you too busy?

Solutions:

Don’t watch T.V.
Rent or share a home with someone.
Stop buying things.
Quit your job and do something worthwhile.
Turn on, tune in and drop out. 🙂
Take some risks.
Do your part.
Become self-reliant.
Create yourself, do not let others create you.
Resist greed, anxiety, depression and fear.
Help others.

Now if you’re buried under debt and such, I wouldn’t suggest turning on tuning in and dropping out but I’d suggest really finding out what makes you happy and to move in that direction at least. It has been a long road for me and I’m still working on it and I’m rather on the debt free side but just looking for my niche that is helpful to society and to me.

I told my uncle once that if it takes me 50 years to get there, then it takes me 50 years to get there.

Today, I was riding a city bus in Sofia, Bulgaria. The buses are fairly old but that doesn’t bother me. My girlfriend and I had been walking in the rain with umbrellas and got on.

We got on and I casually noticed an old man walking past me for the exit of bus at the back. I didn’t think much more about him until about two minutes had passed. My girlfriend and I had punched our tickets and were sitting. As we were sitting, I heard some screaming that sounded muffled or not very loud. I looked around and saw that the old man was stuck in the bus exit. His head was the only part that was out of the bus. The door was completely shut.

I immediately stood up and went to see if I could open the door. The man was screaming outside the closed door. I screamed at my girlfriend and she and other Bulgarians screamed to “Stop the Bus,” and to “Open the door.”

The bus stopped and the door was opened and the old man jumped off immediately to the rain and I suppose was okay. I was rather disturbed by seeing this. Makes you think about everything around you and to be on guard.

What is so great about familiar things? Doesn’t it just keep us in a stagnant state of being? There are those who sit in their back yard and gaze at the birds feeding. Some people live through the experiences of what others do. They are too afraid to leave their back yard or the painfully comfort surroundings they live in. Or they are too tied down to obligation. Obligations to American Idol, the latest gossip, etc. Whatever.

For me, I’ve got to get out of my back yard. I can’t stand it maybe. I feel as if my life is a waste if I stick with the familiar. What is the point really in sitting around and not having adventures? I don’t know. I make up my life as I go. It has always been like this. Am I a freak for wanting adventure or change? Is it a crime to be idealistic? Is it stupid to rise above the brainwashing skepticism of the World?

The world is what I make it. It’s about self-reliance, independence, and faith. Have we lost all this? Must we rely on Government or Obama to solve our problems?

Suggestion: Get out of your back yard. There’s a whole world out there.

Do you remember how Hunter S. Thompson was searching for the American Dream in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas?

Well, the American Dream has been outsourced overseas. In what country it resides is a mystery. With all the bad economy, dream seekers have gotten the hell outta Dodge.

You say, “This is an outrage!” Yeah, it is an outrage.

Our nation is the most divided it has been since probably the Civil War or at least the 1960s. In 2009, we aren’t killing each other as in the Civil War but a war IS going on and I don’t mean the Iraq or Afghanistan Wars.

The present war is a war of ideas, principles, and the American Dream is quickly being put to shame.

The Framers in the Declaration of Independence guaranteed the following:

“That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

It further states that, “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Folks, something is completely out of whack as they say and we must do something.

Yeah, I was bored and wanted to make fun of myself and the whole youtube deal of fame by making 4 stupid videos. Each video built on the prior video. You can hear the audio of video 1 in video 2 and in video 3 you can hear the audio from video 1 and 2 and in video 4 you can hear the audio in video 1, 2, and 3. This was the first videos I made with my webcam.

It’s a collage of sound. Most of life, we interact and get ideas from film and T.V. and so it was like I was in the film interacting with myself in real life. Weird I know but you’ll understand when you watch. I also put in miscellaneous commercials because I get tired of the commercials in America that brainwash us.

Have you ever thought that our real enemy is ourselves? America is falling from the inside not because of terrorists or other outside forces. Americans need to get up from their deep sleep and take our country back.

What was America built and founded on? Why did our ancestors come here? Have we lost our roots?

Now alot of us are all driven by a purpose of mockery: money at all costs, prestige, sex, fame, notoriety, wealth and fortune. I don’t think our founding fathers would want to be a part of our current culture.

What can we do? Demand better, resist fear, greed, anxiety, and mockery driven purposes. Everybody is wondering. What next? Must I stay in this never-ending situation? What should I do? What does it all mean? Does God care? Why should I care anymore?

06:54 AM CDT on Monday, April 20, 2009

By MARK NORRIS / The Dallas Morning News
norrism@dallasnews.com

Applications are up for the Peace Corps, Teach for America and AmeriCorps as Texans turn to service organizations in increasing numbers during the economic downturn.

The state numbers mirror national figures that show year-to-year increases beginning in 2007. Initial numbers of applicants this year are far outpacing those for any previous year.

Jim Guittard, who returned in late 2008 from a two-year mission for the Peace Corps, isn’t surprised.

“With the economy the way it is, people are looking for other things,” said Guittard, who lives in northeast Dallas. “They’re searching for a more satisfying or fulfilling life.”

Officials with the Peace Corps are still tallying the number of applications received in February, but according to the Dallas office’s Shannon Borders, it will probably be a record for one month.

AmeriCorps tripled the amount of applications it received in February this year compared with last.

Kerci Marcello Stroud, Teach for America’s regional communications director, said more people mentioned the economy during the just-completed application period than in years past. Some applicants told her the economic downturn made them re-evaluate what was important to them.

“There’s a growing interest among young people to engage in public service,” Stroud said.

The vast majority of applicants for AmeriCorps, the Peace Corps and Teach for America are recent college graduates.

Of the 35,000 applications Teach for America received this year, 25,000 were from graduating seniors. The remainder was split between graduate students and young professionals less than five years removed from graduation.

Sandy Nunez volunteered for Teach for America after graduating in spring 2007 from the University of Texas at Austin. She thought about joining the Peace Corps or other service organizations before deciding she could be most effective teaching children in underperforming schools.

“It seemed like a very appealing way to get involved,” said Nunez, who is about to complete her two-year commitment in the San Benito schools.

She recently decided to stay on for a third year, saying the state of the economy was a small part of her decision.

Borders said the Peace Corps targets recent college graduates. The median age of its volunteers in 25. There is no age limit, however, and 5 percent of the volunteer force is over 50. The oldest current volunteer is 84.

Guittard joined the Peace Corps 10 years after graduating from college. He had worked at an insurance company among other jobs and decided he wanted to take his life in a different direction.

“In college, I had considered the Peace Corps,” he said. “I didn’t want to have regrets in my life, so I decided to go apply.”

Guittard wound up teaching English to high-school-age students in Bulgaria for two years and taking away an appreciation of how tight-knit families were and how tough his students’ lives were.

He said people who apply need to have the maturity to handle being the situation they are entering.

That vetting is part of the application process, said Borders. She said the biggest surprise is people finding out it can take six to12 months to complete.

But it’s worth it, according to Guittard, who said, “I learned a lot and I’m more appreciative of what I have.”

JUAN GARCIA/DMNJim Guittard taught English to high-school-age students in Bulgaria for two years.

Is our only source of comfort our stocks and money? Where do we get our comfort? The Almighty Dollar right? I’ll keep praying to my money. I know that the dollar can hear me. I just know it. Let’s all go down to our local bank and set up a little praying booth and we’ll be heard. We must!

A veteran Hong Kong stock commentator burst into tears during a live television broadcast as she saw HSBC’s shares plunge dramatically seconds before the end of Monday’s trading.

Let’s all have our “19th nervous breakdown”. I caught this guy on tape around 2001. You know what? We all have bad days. We’re never alone.

America is rather silly right now. More and more news is negative about the crisis at hand. Where are the positive stories about good news. All we hear is bad and slanted toward going deeper and deeper down. Let’s write some positive stuff. It is funny that my having spent two years abroad as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bulgaria isn’t worth mentioning. Many papers that I have contacted have turned down the story.

Seems that greed and money is the only thing that is important to write about these days. There are a lot of hardworking, sacrificing people out there that need notice. And I am writing to toot my own horn maybe. I taught in rough school in Pernik, Bulgaria for two years getting paid less than $400 a month. I returned to America just last November and like everybody else I am also looking for a job. I have seen how the world views America and it is not so positive. We need to do our part and get back to hard work in whatever it is.

I think America is obsessed with money and careers. You know what? It doesn’t matter so much the career that one takes if there is passion and purpose behind it. If you want to be a street sweeper then go for it. There is respect in working hard and not just collecting hand out and doing nothing.

The Blog Documenting the Life Of Jim Guittard

4th Generation Musician and 2nd Generation Writer.
Disclaimer:
MP3s on this site are for sampling purposes only. If you are an artist or represent an artist featured on this site and would like a file removed write me at jfguittard (at) juno (dot) com.